Fifth Town is back (and Cape Vessey with it!)

Fifth Town, a Platinum Leed, facility is set to reopen its store end of May

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Patricia Secord, one of the new owners of Fifth Town Cheese.  They are set to reopen the store on May 31, in time for the Great Canadian Cheese Festival.  As the fate of Fifth Town remained unknown after going into receivership last summer, I don’t think anyone in the cheese community wanted to believe this award-winning cheese company with so much heart (and so much delicious fromage) could be kept down .

For my full piece and more details see The Wedge- Fifth Town article in Globe Food today.

CAPE VESSEY (image from dobbernationloves.com)

Due complicated regulatory paperwork to re-register the dairy to it new owners, cheese making will not begin until earliest September (for fresh cheeses).  There are also renovations to be done ranging from general maintenance to expanding the existing waste water, solar, geothermal functionality and ageing areas to be more efficient.

In the meanwhile, Ms. Secord who has access to amazing artisanal farmstead cheese through her import business (Bertozzi Importing) will be selling those at the store just to get momentum and begin to bring the business back to life.  (cool fact: Ms. Secord’s grandfather had been a Parmesan Reggiano producer in the Parma region before WWII broke out and her father came to Canada and bought his first Parm wheels to sell here with gold he had saved and brought from Italy).  The business has offices in Montreal and Toronto.

The upcoming Italian cheese line-up sounds pretty mouth-watering and ranges from fresh cheeses, washed rinds and cave-aged varieties–all artisanal, goat, sheep and cow’s milk products-some raw and some organic. Ms. Secord was a little hesitant in the beginning about bringing in international products knowing Fifth’s Towns reputation had been built on its support for local product but says the community has been very supportive, “everyone wants to get the place up and running and this is going to help us get through the period of reconstruction.”

YES WE DO!   (And btw–they are hiring!  Check the website.)